title: The lot quality technique: a global review of applications in the assessment of health services and disease surveillance.
abstract: Since the mid-1980s, there has been growing interest in adapting the lot quality (LQ) technique to monitor the quality of health care services, especially in developing countries. This global review has identified a total of 34 LQ surveys conducted from 1984 to 1996 in Africa, the Americas, Europe, South-East Asia, and the Western Pacific. Health care parameters assessed in the surveys varied and some surveys assessed more than 1 health parameter: 24 surveys assessed immunization coverage, 9 examined women's health issues such as family planning and antenatal care, 5 assessed use of oral rehydration therapy, 5 estimated disease incidence, and 3 others evaluated health worker performance. These studies indicate that LQ is a practical, relatively low-cost field method which is increasingly being applied in health programmes.
authors.affiliation: Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunization, World Health Organization, Geneva.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anker
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Roisin
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Macklai
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Engstrom
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: LaForce
mesh_terms: D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006296:Health Services / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D011787:Quality of Health Care